While I normally really enjoy YA books, this one wasn’t quite for me. It was a cosy murder/mystery – and I was genuinely interested to see who the murderer was, and their motive – but I was not enamoured of the characters, nor the setting (an influencers festival). Perhaps I am just too old, but a bunch of vapid self-promoting influencers, who perpetually document every facet of their lives through the ‘ReelLife’ app on their smart phones, is not really my cup of tea.
The story is told in the first person by Kerry, a 17 year-old would-be investigative journalist. She is the most sympathetic of the characters – intelligent and shy – but goes all wobbly when around the ‘Adorable Adonis’ influencer, Dougie Trainor. Kerry is dragged into the festival by her best friend, Annie. Annie initially wants to expose the influencers for their pretentiousness, but really wants to become one, with as many followers as possible. She is fixated with ReelLife, and always wants to be in the middle of everything. I am not sure why Kerry puts up with her.
Kerry and Annie both consider themselves to be feminists (saying ‘good vulva’ is hardly feminism 101), and hope to meet their hero, influencer Winona Philips. They solved a murder in the previous book (which I haven’t read), and when the first body appears, they immediately throw themselves into this crime/mystery.
While the setting was unique, much of the plot appeared formulaic. The police are stereotypically useless, and Kerry and Annie managed to accuse every other character in turn – only hitting on the real culprit once all others are found to have genuine alibis – or are dead.
It is quite likely that I have missed the whole point of this book – it might be a parody of youth fixation with fame and social media. Or, it could just be a fun YA cosy murder/mystery.
There are a lot of positives, and most other reviewers really liked the book. My opinions are probably the outliers. It is worth a read, and you can make up your own mind.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by either the author or publisher.